UN Envoy: Burma Must Give Status to Muslims

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2 May 2014

The top UN envoy on Burma says the top priority for Muslims in violence-torn Arakan State who are considered illegal immigrants is to get the path to citizenship. Vijay Nambiar, the secretary-general’s special adviser on Burma, warned in a speech on Thursday to the International Peace Institute that unless this is done the security of the Rohingya Muslims will remain threatened “and that is sure to affect the international reputation of the country.” Burma, a predominantly Buddhist nation which only recently emerged from a half-century of military rule, considers the Rohingya Muslims to be from Bangladesh and denies them citizenship and related rights, even though many were born to families who arrived in the country generations ago.—AP